Travel Photographer of the Year

Updated 10:52 AM ET, Mon July 15, 2013

Travel Photographer of the Year14 photos

Polar bear scraps – Amateur and professional photographers alike enter the Travel Photographer of the Year competition, one of the world's most prestigious such awards. The winning and commended images are on show from now until August 18 at London's Royal Geographical Society -- here's a selection. In this first image, shot in Norway, Glaucous Gulls fight over scraps left by a polar bear; Michal Jastrzebski, Poland; winner, Best Single Image in the Wild Planet category.

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Travel Photographer of the Year14 photos

Quiver trees – Namib desert, Namibia: quiver trees beneath the stars; Marsel van Oosten, Netherlands; winner, Wild Planet portfolio. Oosten swapped his former award-winning career as an advertising art director for the more precarious life of a wildlife photographer. iReport: send us your best travel snaps

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Travel Photographer of the Year14 photos

Old city – Old City of Jerusalem, Israel; Jordi Cohen, Spain; commended, People Watching category.

Holes in the wall – Grand Gedeh, Liberia: children watch an Oxfam team at work; Timothy Allen, U.K.; Best Single Image in People Watching portfolio.

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Travel Photographer of the Year14 photos

Wide eye – Jackson Hole, Wyoming, United States; Samuel Fisch, United States, aged 15; winner, Young Travel Photographer of the Year. The judges called Fisch's images "remarkably accomplished for someone so young and inexperienced." iReport: send us your best travel snaps

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Travel Photographer of the Year14 photos

Color wash – Brandseth Valley, Norway; Hilde Foss, Norway; winner, One Shot "Water." An IT consultant whose interest in photography developed from holiday snaps, Foss tries to get a few months off each year to travel and take photos. The judges praised "the energy and dynamism" of this winning image.

Burning man – Black Rock Desert, Nevada, United States, Burning Man Festival; Lung Liu, Canada; winner, Journeys portfolio. Liu's early experiences as a refugee have left him with a permanent sense of wonder at new places, he says. He produced "uniquely engaging images" of a much photographed event -- the Burning Man Festival -- judges said.

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Travel Photographer of the Year14 photos

Roots and colour – Siberut Island, Indonesia; Andrew Newey, United Kingdom; Best Single Image in a Journeys portfolio.

Iron icon – Paris, France; Craig Easton, United Kingdom; winner, Cutty Sark Award and overall winner of the Travel Photographer of the Year 2012. French privacy laws dictated that that no one be recognizable in Easton's street images, leading him to the idea of anonymous silhouettes against a highly recognizable background. "Striking graphic images" was the judges' verdict, applauding his success in making an artistic victory out of such restrictions.

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Travel Photographer of the Year14 photos

"Dreich" – The Minch, Western Isles, Scotland; Craig Easton, United Kingdom; part of a series of images called "Dreich" -- an old Scottish word describing dank and miserable conditions. The small screen doesn't do justice to these shots, the award organizers emphasize -- but his prints "come alive with subtle moodiness." iReport: send us your best travel snaps